Eugene KimHTC One Remix (Verizon Wireless)The HTC One Remix might not be cutting edge, but it delivers upscale design in a manageable size for a reasonable price, and that makes it a great midrange Android smartphone on Verizon.

The HTC One Remix might not be cutting edge, but it delivers upscale design in a manageable size for a reasonable price, and that makes it a great midrange Android smartphone on Verizon.

Big is in, but with most flagship phonesnow creeping into palm-busting phablet territory, it's encouraging to see an uptick in miniaturized progeny. For whatever reason, though, downsized phones also mean downsized features for companies like LG, Samsung, and HTC. Like the One Mini before it, the One Remix looks the part, but sacrifices some raw power and pixel density compared with its full-sized counterpart, the One (M8). That's all relative and not nearly as bad as it sounds; the One Remix is still a sprightly, well-built phone that looks and performs better than its $49.99 (with two-year contract) price might suggest, and is a great midrange option on Verizon.

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Design, Features, and Call QualityThe One Remix is more or less a faithful miniaturization of the full-sized One (M8), measuring a more manageable 5.41 by 2.56 by 0.42 inches (HWD) and weighing 4.83 ounces. I say more or less because HTC made a point of eliminating as much plastic as possible on the M8, while the Remix has a prominent band of plastic around its outer edge. It doesn't look bad or cheap by any means, but it's almost more reminiscent of the original HTC One, with addition of the gently rounded edges of this year's M8. In any case, the aluminum panels look and feel excellent, especially when compared with phones like the LG Lucid 3. The Volume buttons and microSD card tray are on the right edge, the latter requiring a pin to eject and access. The Power button is still frustratingly positioned on the top edge, and it's a pain to reach, even with the shrunken dimensions. There's no IR emitter, so remote control functionality is gone.

HTC's Boomsound speakers flank the phone's 4.5-inch, 720p LCD, with an oversized bottom bezel and ungainly Verizon logo that will surely draw ire from Android enthusiasts. The good news is that both the speakers and display here are excellent. The speakers get intensely loud for a smartphone, while the display is crisp (326ppi), bright, and has a wide viewing angle. Contrast and color reproduction are also solid. Most midrange phones, especially miniaturized options like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, have displays that top out at 960-by-540.

The One Remix supports Verizon's CDMA/1xEVDO Rev. A (800/1900 MHz) and LTE Band 13/4 (700/1700 MHz) networks, and features global support for EDGE/GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) and HSPA/UMTS (850/900/1900/2100MHz). That means the Remix supports Verizon's rebranded XLTE, or AWS, frequencies, which we found to be blazingly fast in our latest Fastest Mobile Networks tests.

Call quality is average overall. The earpiece gets generously loud, and voices on the other end of the line are easy to understand. Transmissions through the mic were a bit choppy in my tests, and gave my voice a trebly edge that bordered on harsh. But reception was strong and I was able to place a call from our office basement, where service is typically poor. In our tests, the 2,100mAh battery was good for 13 hours, 31 minutes of continuous talk time. That's a pretty good showing, but a good deal shorter than the M8's 18 hours in the same test.

Performance and AndroidThe One Remix is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 SoC with 1.5GB RAM. That's the same chip we saw in the Motorola Moto G and a host of other budget-friendly phones, and performance is entirely in line with what we've come to expect from the Snapdragon 400. Overall the phone is zippy, system animations are smooth, and apps generally load quickly.

Like the full-sized One (M8), the One Remix runs Android 4.4.3 with HTC's Sense 6 skin. It's pretty refined and shows restraint; I much prefer it to Samsung's TouchWiz Android skin. Blinkfeed, Zoe, and HTC's custom Music, Gallery, and Camera apps are all present and accounted for. In fact, the only big difference between the Remix and M8 are the absence of motion launch gestures and Extreme Power Saving Mode. I liked both of these features, but it's not a huge loss.

Of the 16GB of internal storage, 9.96GB is available to users out of the box. You get your usual heaping of Verizon apps, like VZ Navigator, Verizon Accessories, and Verizon Cloud. Also pre-installed are Amazon apps like Audible, Kindle, and Amazon MP3. Unfortunately, none of these can be removed, and Verizon annoyingly makes its own Messaging app the default for SMS; you'll have to dig into Settings to change that to HTC's messaging app or Google Hangouts.

Camera and ConclusionsHTC ditches its UltraPixel sensor and Duo Cam in favor of a more traditional 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. Images look crisp and true to life in good lighting, though I found that the Remix tends to overexpose shots. Low-light quality holds up pretty well, keeping noise in check without smudging away details. Image noise starts to creep in if it's especially dark, but that's true of even high-end phones like the Galaxy S5. Still, shots taken with an M8 look brighter and less noisy than those taken with the Remix. HTC also packs in an excellent 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It's the same pixel count, and likely the same sensor, as the M8's front-facer, and it produces some of the best selfies around. Video resolution tops out at 1080p and looks sharp for the most part, but suffers from a lack of image stabilization. Framerates hold steady at 30fps in good light, but drop to 27fps indoors.

There are two ways to look at the HTC One Remix compared to the One (M8): It's either a compromised miniaturization or an affordable alternative with a premium look and feel. I lean towards the latter, even though I would like to see more manufacturers make flagship-level devices for normal-sized hands. With the HTC One Remix, you're getting premium looks in a manageable size for a reasonable price. It's superior to the $25 Galaxy S4 Mini and free LG Lucid 3 in nearly every way. A good alternative for smaller device lovers is the Motorola Moto X, which Verizon is offering for free at the time of this writing.

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About the Author

Before joining the consumer electronics team at PCMag, Eugene worked at local news station NY1 doing everything from camera work to writing scripts. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010. Outside of work Eugene enjoys TV, loud music, and making generally healthy and responsible life choices.

HTC One Remix (Verizon Wireless...

HTC One Remix (Verizon Wireless)

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